1500–1599
The 16th century
Whose working lives fell in the 16th century. Books are measured from 1800 and readers from 2015, so for this period we can say who lived then, not who was talked about then.
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 16th century, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
#PersonIn print, 1800–2019Echoed
- 1
Henry IV of France1553–1610 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures10 decades - 2
Francis I of France1494–1547 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0 decades - 3
Jacques Cartier1491–1557 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures22 decades - 4
Catherine de' Medici1519–1589 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures22 decades - 5
Henry III of France1551–1589 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures4 decades - 6
Charles IX of France1550–1574 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0 decades - 7
Mary Tudor, Queen of France1496–1533 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures22 decades - 8
Elisabeth of Valois1545–1568 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures22 decades - 9
Mary of Lorraine1515–1560 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures15 decades - 10
Gaspard II de Coligny1519–1572 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0 decades - 11
Francis, Duke of Anjou1555–1584 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures14 decades - 12
Charles, Duke of Vendôme1489–1537 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0 decades - 13
Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard1476–1524 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0 decades - 14
Renee of France1510–1574 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures22 decades - 15
Louise of Lorraine1553–1601 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures22 decades - 16
Francis III1518–1536 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures14 decades - 17
Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry1523–1574 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures22 decades - 18
Charles III, Duke of Lorraine1543–1608 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures12 decades - 19
Anne of Foix-Candale1484–1506 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 20
Germaine of Foix1488–1536 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures20 decades - 21
Francis I, Duke of Lorraine1517–1545 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0 decades - 22
Henry II, Duke of Lorraine1563–1624 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures5 decades - 23
Antoine, Duke of Lorraine1489–1544 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures20 decades - 24
Antoinette de Bourbon1494–1583 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures21 decades - 25
Anna of Este1531–1607 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0 decades - 26
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Charles II, Duke of Orléans1522–1545 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 27
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Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne1498–1519 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 28
Charles of Lorraine, duke of Mayenne1554–1611 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures20 decades - 29
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Louise de Coligny1555–1620 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures21 decades - 30
Henriette of Cleves1542–1601 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0 decades - 31
Catherine of Cleves1548–1633 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures22 decades - 32
Marie of Luxembourg, Countess of Vendôme1472–1547 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures22 decades - 33
Louis, Duke of Montpensier1513–1582 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0 decades - 34
Anne de Joyeuse1560–1587 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures19 decades - 35
Louise Borgia, Duchess of Valentinois1500–1553 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0 decades - 36
Jean de Léry1536–1613 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures20 decades - 37
François, Duke of Montpensier1542–1592 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0 decades - 38
Jean Ribault1520–1565 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures9 decades - 39
Jean-François Roberval1495–1560 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 40
Charles of Lorraine, duke of Aumale1555–1630 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0 decades - 41
Katherine Briçonnet1494–1526 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0 decades - 42
René Goulaine de Laudonnière1542–1582 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0 decades - 43
Binot Paulmier de Gonneville1500–1600 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0 decades - 44
Jean, Count of Soissons and Enghien1528–1557 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures22 decades - 45
Nicole de Blois1500–1500 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0 decades - 46
Jean Alfonse1484–1544 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0 decades - 47
Francis II, Duke of Nevers1540–1562 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 48
Claude Gouffier1501–1570 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 49James, Duke of Nevers1544–1564 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 50
Henri-Robert de La Marck1539–1574 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 51
Claude de Savoie1507–1566 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figuresnot measured—
How this is measured
- Placing people in time. Each person belongs to the century in which they were most active — around age 35, and never after their death.
- Who ranks highest. Within a century, people are ranked where two independent signals agree: how many of the world’s Wikipedia language editions cover them, and how many people actually read about them. Article counts alone can be lifted by a person’s own circle; readers cannot.
- Fame in print. The curves count how often a name appears in Google Books from 1800 to 2019, as a share of all the words printed each year, in the person’s own language wherever that corpus exists. Those decades are over, so each measurement is made once and kept.
- What is left out. A lifetime is measured only from 1820, when there is enough print to judge; the five years after a death are skipped as obituaries; and a name shared with someone equally notable is credited to neither.